Mr Murray
by Meldirieth
Summary: The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane land on a strange gray planet. After hitting her head, Sarah wakes up in UNIT with the Third Doctor. Apparently the Fourth Doctor was just a dream. 1st story of "The Lonely Star" series.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who is owned by the BBC.

* * *

Sarah was in the library of the TARDIS, reading one of the many books that the Doctor kept there. She was absorbed in her reading when the TARDIS landed abruptly making the book fell to the ground. The girl picked up the book and quickly went to the console room to look for the Doctor.

"Doctor! What happened?"

"We've landed, but I don't know where," her friend replied.

"It has been a very violent landing," Sarah said.

"Yes, and we have not landed voluntarily, I assure you."

"Where are we?"

"I don't know; I'm going to investigate. You stay here," said the Doctor as left the TARDIS.

They had landed on a strange and desert gray planet. There was no sign of life, neither plant nor animal. More than a planet it seemed a lifeless rock floating in space. The Doctor was uneasy: his instincts told him that they should leave immediately, and he was right: just he had moved away a couple of meters from the TARDIS the ground began to shake every time with more intensity.

"Doctor what happens?!" Sarah asked leaning out the door.

"Do not go out!" he answered. "Go back inside!"

A strong jolt knocked the TARDIS over. Sarah lost her balance and fell, hitting her head on the floor. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the Doctor falling to the ground on that cold gray planet.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sarah, Sarah. Do you hear me old girl?"

Sarah opened her eyes. Harry Sullivan was there trying to revive her.

"Harry?" she asked still stunned by the blow.

"Welcome," Harry replied.

"What happened?"

"You had an accident with the TARDIS. The Doctor brought you unconscious this morning."

"The Doctor!" Sarah said sitting up suddenly. The girl felt dizzy and lay down again while she was slowly remembering the events before passing out and waking up in the sickbay of UNIT: the TARDIS landing suddenly, the gray planet, the earthquake...

"You should continue resting, old girl," Harry advised.

"First tell me: how is the Doctor?"

"You can see that for yourself, Sarah Jane," the Doctor said as he was coming into the room.

"Doctor ..." the girl began to say, but she stopped when saw her friend.

The Doctor was before her as she had known him: an older and smart man with gray hair and stylish clothes, not the young man with big blue eyes and tousled curly hair in which he had regenerated after he almost died a year ago.

"What is it, Sarah Jane? It looks like you have seen a ghost," the Doctor said worried about the state of his dear friend.

"It is you!" was all she could say.

"Who else would it be?"

"But you changed ... I know ... You did it in front of me!"

"No, my dear, I have not changed. Someday I will, but not yet."

"But ... Metebelis Three … radiation ..."

"Oh, that day the Doctor gave us a scare," Harry said.

"Yes, I was very nearly to die, but fortunately I managed to survive."

"And the Space Station Nerva? The creation of the Daleks, the Zygons ..." Sarah was naming those adventures she had lived with the 'other' Doctor.

"Yes, I remember all that, and I'm glad you do too. You hit your head very strong, and we feared that your memory had been damaged."

"And you wore an extra long scarf," Sarah continued.

"Yes, I have an extremely long scarf; I have it saved in the TARDIS. I lend it to Harry once. Madame Nostradamus knitted it for me but the truth is that it is not my style."

"Yes, I remember the scarf. Very warm," Harry said.

"Doctor, what happened?" Sarah Jane finally asked.

"We landed on a gray planet and there was a strong earthquake. When I got back to the TARDIS, you were on the floor senseless. I realized that the earthquake had also damaged the ship, so I decided to go where you could recover and I could repair the TARDIS, i.e. Earth", said the Doctor.

"Is the TARDIS badly damaged?" the girl asked.

"Do not worry about it. It's in the way of self-repair. It will remain closed until it is repaired completely," he replied. "Let's spend some time on Earth, so take advantage to rest and recover."

Sarah nodded. Apparently everything was normal, but she knew it was not.


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah opened her eyes and looked at her watch. She had been at least two hours asleep. She got out of bed, changed her clothes and left the sickbay. In the lab she found the Doctor talking with the Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The TARDIS was there, closed, as the Doctor said.

"What are you doing up, Sarah Jane?" the Doctor asked to see the girl.

"I could not sleep," she said.

"Feeling better, Miss Smith?" the Brigadier asked.

"Yes, thank you very much, Brigadier."

The Doctor brought a chair closer and told Sarah to sit. She thanked her friend and sat down.

"I'll ask someone to bring you a cup of tea," the Doctor said.

"It is not necessary, don't bother."

"I insist; you'll feel better after taking it."

Sarah decided not to argue with the Doctor: he always got his way, and he was already ordering Harry to prepare some tea.

"Is anybody there? Brigadier?"

"It seems that you have visit, Lethbridge-Stewart," the Doctor said.

"Yes, it is Mr. Murray. He has come to bring the son of Sergeant Stevenson. His wife is ill and she cannot go for the kid."

"Then we should not make them wait. Wait for us here, Sarah."

"No, I'm going with you," said the girl, who had instantly recognized that deep voice and wanted to check it was not a product of her imagination.

The Doctor, Sarah and the Brigadier went to the door of Lethbridge-Stewart's office where they were expected by a redheaded boy about six years accompanied by a tall man with curly hair and big smile, wearing white shirt, jeans and a brown leather jacket.

"Doctor! You are alright! I'm so happy! What happened with you? Where have you been?" Sarah asked as she took the arm of the man they called Murray. He looked at her as if it were the first time he saw her.

"Sorry?" the man said.

"Excuse my friend, but she has had an accident and is still recovering. She hit her head," the Doctor said.

"Oh, I understand," Mr. Murray said.

"Miss Smith, this is Mr. Murray. He works at the primary school of Miss Brown. Maybe you've seen him before; it is not the first time he comes to bring the child of Stevenson."

"I'm Thomas Ian Murray," said the man shaking hands with Sarah Jane, "but you can call me Tom: Mr. Murray is too formal."

"Sarah Jane Smith," she said returning the greeting to Tom.

"Sarah Jane Smith, the journalist! It's a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine."

How strange this was. She had been travelling a long time with this man, they had shared many experiences, he was her best friend, and now she was a complete stranger to him. What was happening?

"Doctor, do you really not know who I am?" asked the girl, still holding Tom's hand.

"Sarah, I am the Doctor. This man is a primary school teacher completely human," the Doctor said his friend. "Please do not take wrong her bizarre behaviour. I hope she recover soon."

"Maybe I can help a little," Tom said as he took a paper bag out of a pocket of his jacket. "Would you like a jelly baby?"

"I need to sit down," Sarah said, feeling dizzy again. The Doctor went to the lab to take back the chair to Sarah.

"It works with children," Tom said watching the bag of sweets. The red-haired boy pulled the sleeve of his brown leather jacket.

"I do want one," the boy asked his teacher. Tom smiled and gave him three jelly babies.

"Where is that Harry with your tea?" the Doctor asked after helping Sarah to sit on the chair, who sat without looking away from Murray. Harry came with the cup of tea for Sarah.

"Sullivan, take the little Jake with his father. He is in the courtyard," the Brigadier ordered him.

"At your service," Harry said giving Sarah the cup and taking the child out of the barracks.

Sarah took the cup of tea, but her attention was more focused on Thomas Murray: she realized that he wore a silver alliance on his left hand.

"Are you going to marry?" Sarah asked surprised.

"Huh? Ah! Yes, I'm getting married on Saturday, in four days."

"Sarah, what kind of question is that for someone you just met?"

"Do not be angry with her, Doctor. I don't mind," Tom said smiling. "I better go; I'm meeting Heather, my fiancée. See you". Tom said goodbye shaking hands with the Doctor and the Brigadier. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Smith. I hope you recover soon from your accident."

"Call me Sarah."

Tom dedicated a friendly smile to Sarah and started to leave. Sarah got up from the chair, left the tea cup on it and followed the man to the door. She watched as he got on a dark blue bicycle and pedalled away from there in direction of the city.

"But that man is the Doctor," the girl said. "What's going on here?"

"It is clear, Sarah Jane," the Doctor said with a smile. "When you were unconscious dreamed of our past experiences, but in your dream, Mr. Murray was the Doctor."

Was that true? Does the 'death' and subsequent regeneration of the Doctor was just a dream? Sarah Jane Smith was glad that it was so, of course, but at the same time she was sad that the 'Doctor-Tom' had never existed.


	4. Chapter 4

On the advice of the Doctor Sarah went to rest to her home, but for the young girl that was impossible, so she went for a walk around city.

She walked quietly, looking shop windows to distract herself, when she saw Tom Murray, who seemed to be waiting for someone leaning against a wall. Sarah wanted to approach and talk to him, apologize for her shameful behaviour in UNIT and, incidentally, try to find out if this man was really the Doctor. He had to be, she knew he was.

She was about to shout 'Mister Murray!' When a beautiful blonde woman came running up to the man and gave him a warm hug.

"Heather, I guess," she thought.

The vision of the couple caused Sarah Jane excruciating pain in her heart. The girl turned around and went home as fast as she could.


	5. Chapter 5

Sarah got up late the next morning. She had not managed to sleep well that night, still thinking about the Doctor: she had seen him change, but does that change never really happened?

She spent a quiet day with the Doctor, Harry and the Brigadier, but her friends had business to discuss and sent the girl back to her house because they thought she was not completely recovered to help.

Again she went out for a walk, hoping to relax. She walked distracted when she realized that she had unwittingly reached the primary school of Miss Brown. It was time for the children to go home, and the parents had gone to pick them up. Tom was in the schoolyard with his little bag of jelly babies in his hand, looking after the children came along with their parents, when he saw Sarah, who had face of being lost.

"Sarah!" the man called.

"Hello, Tom," the girl said as she approached to where he was.

"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you have a child in this school."

"No, not that," Sarah laughed. "I was minding my own business and I have come here without realizing."

Tom invited Sarah to come into the schoolyard to talk more comfortably. Once she was inside he offered her the pouch of jelly babies.

"Would you want one? Although I think you do not like it."

"Yes I like," she said as she took a jelly baby from the bag and ate it while the man smiled at her.

"Are you feeling better about your accident?" Tom asked visibly worried.

"Well, I still have a headache but I'm better," the girl replied. But why was he so worried about Sarah if he just met her?

Sarah and Tom were finishing watching children leaving when a child who was running pushed Sarah, causing her to lose her balance. Tom managed to hold Sarah avoiding she fell to the ground. The man was holding her. She had her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat ... a strange heartbeat ... A double beat!

"Tom, you have two hearts! I knew it! You're the Doctor!"

Tom shook his head.

"Before it gives you delusions, you have to know that I have a pacemaker that has a small sound defect and makes me have a sort of double heartbeat. When doctors change this pacemaker I will have a single heartbeat."

"That sounds so unlikely ..." said Sarah.

When there was no child in the school yard, Tom unbuttoned his shirt, enough to show her the scar that confirmed that he had a pacemaker implanted.

"Sorry, I did not want to doubt you, at all," Sarah apologized.

"Never mind, do not worry. Everyone finds it weird about my double pulse," Murray said buttoning his shirt again. "I find it funny."

Sarah smiled.

"Why do you want me to be the Doctor, Sarah? Is not the real Doctor in UNIT headquarters?"

That question caught the girl off guard, who did not know what to say. She travelled with the Doctor: she lived with the Doctor. It was assumed that she and Thomas had just met and it seemed like she was saying she wanted to live with him ... and he was about to marry another.

"This is ... uh ... well ... not what you think."

"Hi! Am I interrupting something?" a female voice asked behind Sarah Jane. Heather was in the playground looking for Tom. The presence of the beautiful fiancée of Thomas gave Sarah the perfect excuse to not answer his question.

"Well, I leave you here. It was a pleasure to see you again. Goodbye." After saying this, Sarah walked briskly home.

"Who was that girl?" Heather asked Tom.

"It's Sarah Jane Smith, I met her at UNIT," Tom said smiling watching how Sarah walked away. "A very lovely girl."


	6. Chapter 6

"But he is clearly a Time Lord!" Sarah told the Doctor, who had taken a break from his work at UNIT and had come to visit her at home. "His hands are cold and he has a double heartbeat."

"Sarah, having cold hands can be a symptom of poor blood circulation, and he told you he has a pacemaker with a sound defect."

"But that is absurd! I've never heard of a pacemaker that causes a false double heartbeat."

"He showed you his scar," said the Doctor.

"It may be he wounded in the earthquake."

"Sarah Jane if you're so convinced that Mr. Murray is the Doctor, tell me: Who am I?"

Sarah stared at her friend before responding.

"You're the Doctor. I'm not implying that you're not. It is possible that the earthquake caused some sort of crash in time that has made you meet your future self."

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"It makes sense. You do not know your future self and I think he has amnesia and cannot remember who he is."

"Sarah, I repeat that it was a dream. For you I've always had this incarnation."

Sarah shook her head.

"I did not change your appearance by Tom's. You died and changed before me."

"It's easy to know what Freud would tell you," the Doctor said with a sweet smile. "You've fallen in love with Mr. Murray and you want to be with him instead of me. So I changed in your dream."

"No," Sarah denied. "I neither have fallen in love with Murray nor do I want to replace you."

"Glad to hear that, my dear, because he is getting married this weekend and I would hate to see you suffer. In addition he is not very handsome."

"It is for me," she thought, but she laughed her friend's joke.


	7. Chapter 7

A new day dawned. After spending in bed all the time she could, Sarah made the effort to get up. She saw that there was hardly food at home and went out to buy. In the afternoon, she decided to go to UNIT to see the Doctor and her friends. She was heading for the taxi rank when she heard someone calling her. As she turned she saw Tom who was passing by her on his blue bicycle.

"Good afternoon Sarah. Are you strolling?"

"I go to UNIT headquarters; I'm going to visit them."

"Are you going on foot?" the man asked.

"No, I'll take a taxi."

"Do not spend your money foolishly. Get on, I'll take you," Tom offered.

Sarah accepted Murray's offer. She got on the back of the bicycle and surrounded the man's waist with her arms.

"Running," Tom said starting pedalling again.

"Finding us each day is becoming a habit," the girl said.

"You're right. We should begin to know each other a little better."

"So tell me about yourself: where are you from, what are your hobbies, how you met your girlfriend..." that last question was asked unwittingly, but it was the most important.

"I'm Irish, but I moved here six years ago," the man began. "As you know, I am a teacher in a primary school. Two years ago I had an accident with my car: a child crossed my path and for avoid hitting him, I crashed into a wall. I spent two weeks in a coma."

Sarah listened attentively to the story that Tom was telling her, though she did not believe it at all.

"Every day I spent sleeping in the hospital, I heard a woman's voice speaking to me and encouraged me amicably to wake up: it was Heather, who is a nurse and she was taking care of me all this time. When I woke up I recognized her voice and she continued talking to me until I was discharged. That's when I invited her to dinner in gratitude. If not for her, I might not have awakened."

"It's a beautiful story," Sarah said.

"As they say the rest is history."

"Tell me, Tom: are you happy?" the girl asked.

"I like my job, I love my students and I will marry a wonderful woman. I have everything a man could want."

Perhaps Tom had everything a man could want, but if he really was so happy, then why he sounded so sad? Sarah knew it, she knew him well. He was not made for a sedentary life. Now he was like a bird in a cage, a bird that yearned for freedom, the freedom that only the TARDIS could give him.

"We have arrived," he said.

"Come with me for a moment, Tom. I want to show you something," she said.

They went together into the UNIT headquarters where Sarah took Tom to the laboratory. The Doctor was not inside at that moment but that did not matter. Sarah took the teacher to the TARDIS. He stared at it with an expression of recognize that old blue box. Tom reached out his hand wanting to touch it.

"This is..." he began to say.

"That is," she thought. "Touch it. Say its name."

"What are you two doing here?" the Doctor asked entering the lab before Tom could finish his sentence.

"I'm showing the TARDIS to Mr. Murray, Doctor."

"There is not much to see. It is closed due to a fault."

"We know that. Doctor, I was wondering if when the TARDIS is repaired you could bring Tom to take a short trip. He will behave better than Harry," Sarah asked the Doctor while Tom looked at the Time Lord with a look in his eyes that said "Yes, please."

"No," it was the resounding answer from the Doctor. "Sarah Jane, for when the TARDIS is repaired this man will be already married. I will not take him through time and space while his wife stays at home worried about her husband."

"You have a time machine, Doctor. You could take him with you of travel for a year and return to his home just seconds after you have gone."

"You know that the TARDIS is very capricious; travelling could take a few seconds and return ten years after we left."

"Please do not further discuss," Tom said. "I have hurry; there is a wedding to prepare." He shook hands with the Doctor and did the same with Sarah, approaching her ear and whispering to her: "I think your friend doesn't like me." And with that Thomas walked out the door.

"What's wrong with you?" Sarah asked angry with the Doctor.

"With me? What about you? I leave you alone and you start to flirt with an engaged man."

"I was no flirting with him. This man has brought me here, he has been kind to me and I wanted to return that kindness."

"I do not want you to see him more, understand?"

"You cannot tell me who I can or I cannot see!"

And Sarah Jane ran out of the building hoping to find Tom Murray.


	8. Chapter 8

"Tom, wait!"

The girl managed to catch Tom up, who had already begun to move away from the barracks. On hearing the young girl he stopped and Sarah got back on the blue bicycle.

"Running," she said.

"What are you doing here with me, Sarah? I thought you'd be with your friend."

"I'm here to apologize to you on behalf of the Doctor. He has been nasty to you, but I can assure you that this behaviour is not typical of him."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," he said smiling.

"I haven't thanked you for taking me on your bike either. Are you always so kind to girls you just met?"

"Only with those who dream of me," Tom replied, causing Sarah to blush: she did not expect that answer. "Tell me about him," he continued. "If you dreamt that I was the Doctor I would like to know what kind of person he is."

"Oh, he's a brilliant and extraordinary man who does not hesitate to help anyone in need regardless of whether he risks his live in the attempt."

"It sounds like a good guy," said Tom.

"But the most important of all: he is my best friend, always by my side when I need him, he would give all for me, and I would do the same for him". As she spoke, Sarah embraced Murray's waist tightly, and he liked to feel the touch of the girl against her body.

"Now I would really like to be him," said Tom, "for having you as a friend".

"You don't need to be the Doctor for that," Sarah said smiling.

Tom stopped pedalling.

"Oh dear."

"What?" Sarah asked.

"I wanted to get closer to your house, but we have come to mine," he said.

"Do not worry, you are in a hurry. I think at the end I'll take a taxi."

Tom and Sarah got off the bike and approached the door of the building where he lived.

"I did not even have time to offer you a cup of tea."

"Quiet, nothing happens. Thanks again for your kindness."

"No need to give them, you're a beautiful woman who thinks I'm an extraordinary man."

"It's what you really are."

Then Tom began to get closer slowly to Sarah. She was closer his face, his lips ... the man closed his eyes and approached his mouth to hers: the Doctor was going to kiss her! Sarah had dreamed of this moment, but now that it was going to happen she did not know whether reject or reciprocate it. If he was the real Doctor they could not have a normal relationship; if he was a human being he was already engaged to another woman. Does she should reciprocate or reject him? Sarah wanted to happen, and this could be her only chance, so she had to take it, she should correspond to that kiss!

... But the girl had hesitated too much. Tom stepped back.

"Sorry, this is not right. I have a girlfriend and I'm getting married," he apologized.

"Okay. It is okay," Sarah said trying not to sound disappointed.

"In other circumstances things would be very different," Murray said opening the front door of the apartment.

Sarah smiled at the man while she thought: "In other circumstances things would be the same."

"See you, Tom," she said pretending she was going back to her house.


	9. Chapter 9

Sarah didn't go home. She stayed hidden waiting for Tom out of his. As a good journalist who she was, Sarah Jane Smith was proposed to find out the true identity of Thomas Murray.

Once the man had left, she waited for a neighbour entering or leaving the building to go and look at the mailbox to see on which floor lived the primary school teacher. She already had it: Thomas Ian Murray lived in the 1st B.

Sarah made sure that there was no neighbour nearby and she opened the door of the house with a card. What she found there was a floor completely normal, nothing out of the ordinary. She found photos of Thomas: pictures of him with his parents when he was a small boy, pictures of teenager with a small beagle, with his friends, with Heather... it seemed that Thomas Murray was real, something that surprised the girl, which at least was glad to see that Tom did not share the floor with Heather.

In his bedroom she found a box that said "junk" and started to register it. She took out of the box a lot of pens that did not paint, stickers not used, rolls of tape, a yo-yo as the Doctor used to check the gravity of each planet on which they land… and a sonic screwdriver… The sonic screwdriver of the current incarnation of the Doctor! Sarah kept looking in the box and found the key to the TARDIS. She had everything she wanted. She saved the screwdriver and the yo-yo in her pocket, hung the key around her neck, put back the junk in their box and ran out of that apartment.


	10. Chapter 10

The TARDIS landed on a desert gray planet. The Doctor had gone to investigate where they were and why they were there when he was surprised by a strong earthquake.

"Doctor! What happened?!" Sarah asked, leaning out the door.

"Do not go!" he answered. "Come back!"

A strong jolt knocked the TARDIS over bringing down Sarah. The Doctor tried to get to the ship to help his companion, but he fell. Strong arms lifted him off the ground. The Doctor saw before him a green-skinned creature, with white eyes, black tangled hair and a slug mouth that coming towards him. Then he saw nothing more.

"Sarah!" Tom Murray shouted sitting up his bed, just before being slapped on his left cheek. Heather was before him, clearly angry with her fiancé.

"I came early to surprise you and I find you shouting in dreams the name of another woman the day before our wedding."

"It's not what you think, Heather," Tom said putting his hand on his sore cheek. "It was a nightmare: I was the Doctor and I wanted to help Sarah, but I was captured by a horrible creature ..."

"I had heard that this girl was sick in her head and had become obsessed with you. And now you are being affected by her paranoia too," said Heather. She took Thomas's chin gently. "I have to go, honey, but first give me a kiss."

Tom moved his face away from Heather, who before the rejection of her boyfriend gave him another slap on the right cheek.

"You'd better for our wedding don't shout the name of another woman," Heather said angrily before she left, slamming the door.

Tom did not even look at her, he kept thinking about his dream and Sarah Jane Smith. His feelings for Heather were not the same since he met the young journalist. It was not the blonde woman with whom he wanted to be right now. He looked his engagement ring and wanted to remove it, but something stopped him and he did not know what it was. He got up and went to wash in the bathroom. When he looked in the mirror he saw his own reflection talking.

"Free me, we have not much time."

Tom stared surprised the mirror. He also realized that he had no scar pacemaker and was noticing the double beat of his heart. He blinked a moment and when he looked in the mirror again he saw the scar and his reflection was only a reflection in a mirror. Heather was right; the paranoia of Sarah Jane Smith was affecting him.

Thomas left home. He was getting married the next day and he had many things to prepare. Walking down the street he saw Sarah, who smiled and approached him.

"Hello Tom," the girl said.

Tom neither answered nor looked at her.

"Is something wrong? You can tell me anything."

"It happens that I was a happy man with a quiet life until I met you."

"What?" Sarah asked, not understanding what was happening.

"I'm saying you're ruining my life and I want nothing more from you. Go with your friend the Doctor and do not ever speak to me anymore!"

Sarah could not believe what she was hearing: the Doctor was expelling her from his life! That was unthinkable. This man could not be the real Doctor. Hurt and with tears in her eyes, she ran towards UNIT to meet her friend.

Tom did not move from where he was. He had been too rude with that poor girl that all she had done was to think he was her beloved Doctor because of a nasty blow to her head. It was not her fault that he dreamed about he was the Time Lord. He really liked the girl. In very little time he had come to appreciate her enough to really want to be her best friend, and maybe something else. And now he had expelled her from his life. He felt like a horrible monster. Not prepared to lose the friendship of Sarah, Tom ran after her.


	11. Chapter 11

When Sarah went into the UNIT headquarters she found it completely empty. Only in the laboratory she saw the Doctor talking with Heather.

"Doctor what is she doing here?" the girl asked.

"Heather has told me that you are harassing her boyfriend."

"I have not harassed anyone," she defended.

"I told you to stay away from them," continued the Doctor.

"You don't have anything to worry about. He hates me."

"Really?" Heather asked. "Does the Doctor hate his dear companion? Wonderful."

"What's going on here? Who are you?" Sarah asked when she heard Heather calling Tom 'the Doctor'.

"We had planned to kill first the Doctor tomorrow and then to you, but since we are here and your Doctor is not going to save you this time we will reverse the order," said Heather.

And then the fake Doctor grabbed Sarah's neck with his hands and began to strangle her. Sarah tried to scream for help, but she could not. The Doctor was too strong and there was no one there to help her.

"Sarah!"

Tom went into the lab and saw the Doctor trying to strangle who it was supposed was his companion. Without hesitation the man attacked the Doctor, who let go of the journalist to give back the attack to the teacher.

"Sarah ... Heather! What happens here? What's this all about?" Murray asked while he defended himself the attacks of the fake Doctor.

"Tom ... trust me ... he is not the Doctor ... It's you," Sarah said, speaking with difficulty.

"Get up stupid girl. You are going to see how the Doctor kills the Doctor." Heather raised Sarah from the floor and made her watch the fight scene that was taking place in the laboratory.

Tom defended himself of his attacker as he could, managing to put him in trouble on more than one occasion. Fortunately he was a young man, big and strong and knew how to defend himself against a physical attack, but he was not an expert fighter, while the Doctor had much experience in combating all forms of alien creatures. A mere human was no match for him ... for the Doctor ... Sarah had said that he was the Doctor and he should trust her. The fake Doctor got knock Tom, who finished lying face up on the floor.


	12. Chapter 12

"My name is Thomas Ian Murray. I am forty one years old and I work as a teacher in a primary school. I am a simple man with a quiet and normal life. I was going to marry tomorrow, but today is the day in which the Doctor destroys my existence."

"Doctor!"

"That is Sarah's voice, the sweet Sarah Jane Smith shouting the name of my attacker: the Doctor. But she is not talking to him; she is talking to me, a mere human that is lying defeated on the floor feeling my life vanishes while the Time Lord is trampling me hard on my chest."

"Doctor, please respond."

"They say when you are going to die your whole life flashes before your eyes; nothing is flashing before my eyes. Where are all my memories now? The memories of my parents, my childhood, my friends, it's like I had never existed. I look at the two women who are watching the violent scene. Heather, my fiancée, is smiling coolly while Sarah, whom I met three days ago, is crying inconsolable for me. Sarah Jane ... I'm in this mess for her, but I do not regret trying to save her."

"If you surrender now Sarah is going to die."

"A voice inside me tells me that I must fight for her, and I do, because deep in my heart I know that she is the woman I love. I cannot let her die ... In my heart ... My heart with double beat like if I was a Time Lord. I have not a pacemaker, right Sarah Jane? I have two hearts. I'm a Time Lord."

"We have already had enough fun. It is time for your eternal rest!" the fake Doctor said about to deal Thomas the final blow.

"I am the Doctor!" Tom shouted taking fake Doctor's leg and turning upside down, making his opponent hit the floor too.

"No!" Heather shouted.

Sarah smiled when she saw her friend reacting. The girl elbowed Heather in her stomach and went to meet the real Doctor, which was trying to restrain with his own body to his opponent.

"Doctor! It is you again!" she said happily.

The man shook his head.

"Right now I don't know who I am."

"You're an idiot about to die," said the fake Doctor, getting rid of the man.

"Sarah, go away! Escape from here!" he said to the girl, trying to get the situation back under control.

"No! I will not leave you!"

Heather took a knife that she had hidden in the drawer of a table and lunged toward the Doctor ready to stab him in his back.

"Doctor! Behind you!" Sarah shouted.

The Doctor threw himself down avoiding Heather's attack that finished stabbing in the heart to her partner, the fake Doctor.

"Sholak! No!" she cried when she saw what had done.

The fake Doctor, or Sholak, breathed his last with the knife still stuck in his chest before the eyes of Heather, Sarah Jane and the Doctor. The blonde woman dropped the knife and looked at her hands stained with the blood of her companion.

"This is all your fault, stupid girl!"

Heather attacked Sarah, which avoided the angry woman as she could.

"Tom! Quick! You have to help Sarah," the voice within told him.

"What can I do? I am very weak. I can barely stand on my feet."

"Release me. Take off the ring."

Tom looked at the silver ring on his left hand.

"The ring. Now I understand everything: I am a prison for the Doctor and this ring that Heather gave me is the key that will free the Time Lord. If I take it off he will be free, but I will stop exist. So I did not have the courage to take it off before."

"Do not doubt, Tom. You just have to decide between these two women: who of them you want to get out of here alive?"

"It was not a difficult decision. Coming to apologize to Sarah I have discovered I do not know at all the woman whom I was going to marry: What is her surname? What are her hobbies? Who is her best friend? It is like she did not really exist. Everything we have lived together has been a lie, including our feelings; I have realized that I am not even in love with her, and yet I have the impression that the young journalist and I have been through situations like this before. Sorry I doubted you, Sarah Jane … My Sarah Jane. Admittedly, I'm the Doctor, but I'm also Tom Murray, and I like being Tom Murray."

"Do not doubt, Tom."

Thomas looked at Sarah, who was trying to hide from Heather.

"You and I love that woman. Don't we, Doctor? But if I release you we won't be able to have her, and if I do not, we will die. Yes, today is the day in which the Doctor destroys my existence, but after all, I never existed ..."

And with tears in his eyes Thomas Murray removed the silver ring. All the memories of his life as the Doctor came to his mind: all his incarnations, all his experiences, all his companions...


	13. Chapter 13

"Sarah!" the Doctor cried.

When he looked up he saw the setting where they were suddenly changed. They were not in UNIT, not even on Earth. They were still in that gray planet in a laboratory with transparent walls in which there was only one big computer and the TARDIS, and Heather and Sholak had changed their appearance to the green-skinned creatures, white eyes and tangled and black hair. All this time they had been trapped in a delusion.

"Mauneets," the Doctor said recognizing these creatures.

"It's you again," said Heather quickly approaching him and leaving Sarah for another time. The creature seized with her arms to the weakened Doctor.

"Heather, our relationship has been a lie. Our wedding is cancelled," he said smiling.

"Oh, what a pity! Let me give you one last kiss," said the mauneet with her slug mouth while she was kissing the Doctor, who could not do anything about it.

"Let him go, disgusting creature!" Sarah said throwing the yo-yo against Heather's head, thereby achieving she left the Doctor and returned her attention to the journalist. The Doctor fell to the ground dazed, almost to faint.

"Are you okay? What has she done?" Sarah asked as she picked up the knife from the ground and once again tried to avoid the creature's attack.

"The body fluids of the mauneets are toxic to other races: in small doses they are narcotic, but in high doses they cause death. Do not use the knife against her, she could use her blood to poison you," the Doctor explained trying by all means to avoid falling asleep. "I imagine that Heather wanted to kill me on our wedding night," he said with a grimace on his face.

With much effort the Doctor got up from the ground and went to the computer. He had to do something fast because it was only a matter of time that Heather reached Sarah, who was already showing signs of exhaustion. After a quick glance and without a second thought the Doctor began to press the computer keys.

**"Self-destruct sequence activated: four minutes remaining time."**

"Heather, listen to me. In four minutes this lab will jump into the air. Do yourself a favour and escape from here," said the Doctor.

"I'd rather blow up if I take you with me. I hope you understand Doctor. I'm just doing my superior orders."

"Yes, I understand. Too bad for you, because I have no intention of dying here."

Heather managed to catch Sarah.

"And are you going to let your friend die with me?"

"Never!"

Sarah scratched lightly Heather with the knife, distracting the mauneet long enough to get the sonic screwdriver from her pocket and throw it to the Doctor.

"Very clever, girl. Just I'm barely bleeding. Now I will finish what Sholak started," she said grabbing Sarah's neck with her hands.

**"Self-destruct sequence activated: three minutes remaining time."**

The Doctor picked up the sonic screwdriver from the floor. He had to do something to help his companion, but still did not know what. He was exhausted; he hurt all over and was increasingly numbed. He had promised Tom he would save Sarah, but it looked like he would break his promise. Tom... Tom! That was it!

The Doctor reached into his pocket the silver ring. With that ring the mauneets had made him forget his identity and think he was human. With this ring he could save Sarah. The Doctor began to manipulate the ring with his sonic screwdriver and then did the same with the computer.

"Doc ... tor ..." Sarah wanted to tell her friend to take the TARDIS's key and leave her, but she could hardly speak.

The Doctor came from behind and grabbed Heather getting her to let go to Sarah.

"Sarah, there's not much time. Are you all right?"

The girl nodded. She was breathing hard, but she was alive.

"You shall have also the key to the TARDIS, haven't you?"

**"Self-destruct sequence activated: two minutes remaining time."**

Sarah turned to nod.

"Good girl. Now go into the TARDIS. Run!"

Sarah ran toward the ship while the Doctor getting put Heather the ring on her finger. Instantly the creature again took the form of a beautiful blonde woman.

"Tom? Tommy, darling, what happened?"

"Tom is dead," it was the cold answer of the Doctor.

"What's happening?"

"Look around you, Heather."

Now Heather was trapped in the delusion that the Doctor had created for her. She saw a group of creatures of her same species approaching threatening towards her that believed herself a human. The woman screamed in panic.

"Tom! Help me!"

**"Self-destruct sequence activated: one minute remaining time."**

The Doctor turned back to the large computer. He pressed a button and started talking.

"This is a message to the planet Mauneet: I'm the Doctor, and, as you can see, I am alive, something that cannot be said of Sholak, and Heather (I do not know her real name) has not much time, judging by her cries. You have failed in your attempt to kill me and you will return to fail if you try it again, so do not do it again. End of message."

**"Self-destruct sequence activated: thirty seconds remaining time."**

It was time to go to the TARDIS, but when he tried to take a step forward, the Doctor fell headlong to the ground. He was too exhausted to move. He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep. Soon everything would end.

"Not now! Not here!" Sarah Jane said helping him to get up and get to the TARDIS.

**"Self-destruct sequence activated: fifteen seconds remaining time."**

Once inside the ship, the Doctor set coordinates on the control console and they moved away from that gray planet just before the lab exploded with Heather inside. Sarah returned to help the Doctor, this time to take him to his bedroom where the girl had prepared a small bowl with cold water and a towel to wipe his face's wounds.

"Well! No scar," said Doctor weakly but triumphant lying on bed and looking at his chest under his clothes. "I was afraid that they would have slit me really to make everything more believable. A pacemaker with sound defect ... Nonsense!"

Sarah began to pass the damp towel over his face.

"You should see a doctor. You've received a good beating."

"Do not worry, Sarah. I ache all over, but I have nothing broken. I think I've been very lucky: Sholak was very strong."

"At the end I felt pity for Heather," said the girl.

"Do not feel pity for her, Sarah. She was willing to do anything to kill us."

"Did you get to feel something for her?" Sarah Jane asked fearing receive a painful answer. At least she was certain that the Doctor and the mauneet had not exchanged bodily fluids. The Doctor looked at her and smiled.

"Sarah, except you and me there it was all a lie."

There was another important question for which she did not dare look at her friend's face.

"You said before I am beautiful and almost kissed me. It was also a lie?"

Receiving no answer Sarah turned towards her friend. The Doctor had succumbed to the exhaustion, pain and the narcotic and had fallen asleep. Sarah made sure he was only sleeping.

"You are avoiding embarrassing questions, aren't you?"

She also was exhausted and eager to go to sleep. She left the towel in the bowl and stood up, but before leaving she turned once again towards the Doctor and gave him a soft kiss on his lips.

"Sweet dreams, Doctor."


	14. Chapter 14

Sarah opened her eyes and stretched. She dressed and ran to the Doctor's room to see how he was of his wounds, but on the bedroom door was a note that said: "We have landed. I'm outside. P.S. Do not worry, it is safe."

Sarah left the TARDIS and saw that they were in a large cemetery. All around only were graves. It seemed a planet dedicated solely to eternal rest. It was nice and sad at the same time. What were they doing there?

It was not difficult to find the Doctor. He was kneeling before a grave and wearing his coat, his hat, his scarf... it was he again, Sarah Jane thought.

The journalist went to where his friend was and she read the name written on the tombstone.

'Thomas Ian Murray'.

"It is a tomb for Tom?" Sarah asked.

"I think he deserves a decent rest: he was a good man, though he never existed."

"He exists, and is not dead. He is you, Doctor. He always was you."

"Am I? He acted like me at all."

"Because you did not remember who you were, Time Lord, but I saw that your human life was not happy and you wanted to be that you had forgotten."

"You wanted a lot to my previous incarnation, Sarah. You came back to meet 'him' and yet you looked for 'me' all the time. Why?"

"Because I saw you weak and dying, remember? I suffered a lot when I thought you were dead, before you changed. That suffering I could not have dreamed at all. So I always knew you were really you."

The Doctor smiled without looking away from Murray's tomb.

"You did not let yourself be fooled easily. Good girl."

Sarah shook her head.

"That's not entirely true: I never thought that the other doctor could be an impostor."

"Of course. You never thought I could hurt you."

"It was horrible when Sholak attacked me with the appearance of your former body."

"Luckily I got there in time."

"No matter if you're human or Time Lord. You're always there when I need you most."

The Doctor smiled. "I did not want to lose you," he thought to himself.

"What have you buried?" Sarah asked.

"His clothing. Although I regret that Sholak shattered them."

"Will you miss being human?"

The Doctor did not answer. True, as a human he wanted to be a Time Lord, but when it was time to end his humanity he wept, and it was the Doctor himself and not Tom who did it, because he was giving up the only thing for what it worthwhile being human: he was giving up to spend the rest of his life with Sarah Jane Smith.

_"You and I love that woman, don't we, Doctor? But if I release you we won't be able to have her." _

And that was something that troubled him. He loved her, he had always wanted her, but his condition of Time Lord prevented him from love. When he believed himself human there was no reason not to express his feelings for her, he almost kissed her, but ultimately chickened out, and as his eyes were closed he could not see the reaction of the young woman. He did not know if she would reciprocate or reject him. If she would have rejected him it would have been bad for him. If she would have reciprocated him it would have been worse. But he wished that she would have reciprocated him. He wished tell his companion that when he fell asleep he dreamed that she kissed him and that was the most wonderful dream he had in a long time.

What the Doctor was burying in that tomb were his deepest feelings for Sarah Jane Smith; the only thing for what worthwhile being a human.

"Doctor? Are you okay? You're very quiet," Sarah asked worried about her friend.

"I was thinking."

"What were you thinking?"

"What about if you and me go on holiday one week?" He said getting up and smiling at the girl.

Sarah smiled excited. The Doctor put his right hand on the left shoulder of his friend and together they went to the TARDIS.

For them both it was better to think that the kiss that was about to happen on that gray planet was only a delusion. Nothing there was real.

Nothing except the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and what they felt for each other.

The End


End file.
